She
by kokoro77
Summary: Axel met her in a dream and in that dream her laughter pierced the silence. He didn't know her, but he wanted to know her...so that he could make her smile. -Axel/Xion dedicated to the Xion to my Axel; I love you.-


**Author's Note: I wrote this a few weeks ago for a friend of mine on LiveJournal who has been having a real tough time lately. I love her dearly and her favorite pairing is Axel/Xion, so I whipped up something real quick and posted it. I decided to share it with you guys! It's...very fluffy. Fluffier than if Cool Whip and a cloud had a baby. B|  
**

**I've been coming up with a lot of one shots lately, so DON'T BE SURPRISED if a lot happen to show up over the course of these days. XD**

**Disclaimer: Same as always. Saaaame as always.  
**

* * *

She 

Axel met her in a dream and in that dream her laughter pierced the silence.

It was a little funny when he thought about it, because Axel rarely ever dreamed about anything, much less about girls. Girls with simplicity and elegance, girls with bright blue eyes, girls with feet that whispered when they walked and lashes that stood dark and thick against pale, doll-like skin. As far as he could remember, he'd never met anyone like her and yet there was something in his chest that told him...that he wanted to know her.

Or maybe he'd known her before.

Feeling out of place, weightless, and transparent, he stood—harsh red and black against a pure white world his dream had created. No floor, no sky, no boundaries. To be honest, it was a little unnerving. He was used to being held back by rules and regulations, eyes that pinned him to his chair and ordered him to listen. But here...the environment never shook and nothing told him to stay. So when he saw the girl in his dream, his back turned toward him, and he felt the need to approach, he wondered if he was thinking the right thing.

Were there really no boundaries?

For a while Axel just stared until he heard a rustle and the girl turned before his eyes. Maybe it was Namine. Her presence struck him as the demure blonde girl he'd seen many times...but unlike Namine, this girl's face—it smiled. It felt familiar. It felt inviting and real. But in the back of his mind Axel knew that he didn't know her. She was a stranger...right?

And then, a beautiful sound: the girl began to laugh. A sound like water lapping against the sand, stirring porcelain shells and smoothing out ridges and ripples—

"...What's so funny?" he asked, voice almost amused. She paused and looked up so that her eyes locked onto his and at that moment Axel felt his body fall cold for the first time in his life. He knew her...but not quite.

"You're dreaming about me."

"...Is that so wrong?"

The girl shook her head. "No. I just...didn't think you'd dream about me."

This confused Axel and he ended up taking one step closer. He hadn't realized that she was so far away. "Do I know you?"

Seconds later he wished that he hadn't asked, because gradually the girl's smile began to disappear and her face seemed to lose its light. Small hands fidgeted against each other and her fingers tangled up between their gaps, but all this wasn't a sight to turn away from; no, in some weird way, watching the girl like this made Axel feel...lighter. It was like he wanted to make her uneasiness disappear.

Soon she responded with her head turned toward her feet. For some reason, to the redhead, she appeared much smaller. "I don't think you do." Then, a bit stronger, "But that's all right. ...I shouldn't be remembered."

He was still confused. So he'd forgotten her? Why? Was that his decision? Axel took another step closer.

"I think I wanna remember you," he said, footsteps echoing while he started to approach the girl at a steady pace...but she still felt so far away. "It just seems kinda hard."

"It's hard...to remember something you don't want to remember."

"But I said I want to remember you."

"...If you still knew, you wouldn't want to anymore."

Finally he stood beside her, two steps away, and it was then he realized how very small she really was in comparison. With her head bowed and shoulders pulled in, the tips of her feet pointed inward, she appeared even tinier, and for Axel this wasn't ok. For whatever reason it just wasn't ok. The girl he'd seen no more than a few seconds ago—the one that had been smiling and laughing and looking him straight in the eye—wasn't beside him. Frowning slightly, Axel shook his head.

"You're still a memory."

"Best left forgotten."

Calmly, "...You don't get to decide that for me." He wanted to know her. He wanted to know her for who she really was and not as this shy, self-demeaning girl standing before him. ...Something deep inside him wanted to see her light as if, perhaps, he would be seeing it for the last time. As if reading his thoughts the girl looked up from her feet until, once again, their eyes met. He felt cold, but at the same time...alive.

"Axel." The first time his name left her lips he felt a strange twinge in his body. Had he heard that before? Had she said that before? He didn't have the time to ask because once he felt a familiar warmth, a comforting smoothness against his face, the memories began to flood his mind. The voice, the touch, the eyes, the smile—

It all created her name. "...Xion." Her hands framed his face and kept him pinned and unmoving, though not in the way he'd grown to hate. Axel wanted this and he wanted, more than anything, for it never to stop. If she let go now would he forget her again? Then, as if to reassure him, she smiled, and not just with her lips, but with every fiber of her being.

"Don't let me be a burden to you."

His brows furrowed slightly. "You wouldn't be." Then, almost embarrassed, "I want you back."

Xion shook her head. "You have me back. For now at least."

And he wondered if he would always have her back. If whenever he'd close his eyes and fall asleep, there she'd be, to smile and laugh, and return to his memory as if nothing bad had ever happened. It wasn't fair to her that he forgot. It wasn't right that she didn't want to be remembered. She couldn't stay here as a fleeting dream...to be happy and exist all by herself. Without knowing it he was holding her back, giving her his entire body, and not wanting to let her go. She couldn't just be a memory. She couldn't escape through his fingers and _be alone_.

"Not just for now," he muttered, arms wrapped about her smaller frame, keeping her safe from fading away. "Quit being stubborn, kid."

That earned a soft giggle from her and Axel swore that he could feel her lips curve against his chest and the laughter reverberate in his skin.

"I learned from the best." There was a pause before Xion shifted in Axel's hold so that she could gaze up at him once more. "...Even if you forget," she began with a certain softness to her voice, "we'll still be best friends."

And when Axel felt the world around him start to fade into nothing, his body being pulled back to his room, this bed, the same unresponsive ceiling above, he couldn't help but wonder why, so suddenly, his body felt cold.

"How did this happen...?"

He dreamt of a girl with simplicity and elegance. A girl with bright blue eyes, feet that whispered when she walked and lashes so dark and thick against her doll-like skin. A girl with a laugh that broke the silence and set a ringing in his empty chest...

A girl he didn't know, but who he wanted to know...so that he could make her smile.

* * *

**I will admit that I love this pairing to bits. Ever since Days I've thought of it as a really adorable pairing filled with derp and...angst. That one scene between Axel and Xion just _ripped my heart out_. I loved it and it made me think about my own relationships and how I would do _anything _to keep them together. I really do model myself after Axel in that way, and I hope other people will realize how important friends can be in life.**

**_THAT WAS A PEARL OF WISDOM FOR THE DAY,  
kokoro77  
_**


End file.
